Pulaski's Kyle Rhoades had no serious intentions of racing at all in 2016.

But a deal fell into the 28-year-old’s lap late last fall. It was a deal he simply couldn’t refuse.

Kyle and his dad Tom Rhoades struck up a conversation with some old friends at the Short Track Nationals at Rockford (Ill.) Speedway last fall.

“My dad used to pit for Rich Bickle (former NASCAR truck driver from Edgerton) years ago,” Rhoades said. “We were down at Rockford and we bumped into Mike Carmichael who they knew mutually through Bickle. Mike told us back then he might have a truck to race for us in this Midwest Truck Series.”

With deals such as this very rare in modern times, Kyle and his dad jumped at the opportunity. They drove down with their trailer to Janesville during the offseason and picked up the truck — complete with a motor and ready to race.

“The only thing we’re responsible for is maintaining the truck and fixing it up if we wreck it at all,” Rhoades said. “The truck came to us completely race ready."

One of the challenges with the Midwest truck series is there really isn’t a track even remotely close to Pulaski where they race trucks.

“It makes it a little challenging,” Rhoades said. “The series goes to a bunch of different tracks like Slinger, Marshfield, Wisconsin Dells, Wausau and La Crosse. WIR is probably like our home track. We raced there with the TUNDRA late models earlier this year. So that was sort of neat. Otherwise we’re on the road going to a new venue roughly every other week.”

With a steep learning curve and virtually no prior experience racing a truck, Rhoades is hoping the series schedule plays out in his favor the second half of the season.

“What’s good is that the remaining races on the schedule are places we’ve already been to once before this year,” Rhoades said. “So now we’ll have a better idea of what we’re up against, at least from a setup standpoint.”

Other drivers in the truck series have been more than helpful to the rookie driver.

“The series seems really decent for young kids who are up and coming through the ranks,” Rhoades said. “And a lot of those guys are quick to give some tips for setups and stuff, so that helps a lot.”

Racing a box-shaped truck, which pushes a big hole through the air, is a totally different animal than Rhoades was used to in racing a sleek, more aerodynamically friendly super late model.

“It’s a whole different ballgame than what we are used to that’s for sure,” Rhoades said. “The handling characteristics are very different and they react differently than a late model. Sometimes they want to push and go straight into the wall.”

The series schedule races roughly every other week, which Rhoades seems to enjoy. One of the challenges the team faces is securing local sponsors being in a touring series.

“We had some sponsors that backed us when we ran at Kaukauna and Norway (Mich.) but backed out when we got this deal, and that’s understandable,” Rhoades said. “So we’re always looking, but it’s pretty tough.”

In terms of expenses running the series Rhoades says it “isn’t too bad.”

“La Crosse for us was the biggest race to travel to from an expense standpoint,” Rhoades said. “It does cost a little bit more to travel with your fuel costs and such, but most of our races are close enough we don’t have to pay to get a hotel. We come home the same night from most shows, so that helps out a lot.”

Rhoades, who started out his racing career wheeling a 4-cylinder at Luxemburg Speedway on the dirt, still has his asphalt super late model.

“We might dig it out and race it again someday at WIR or Norway,” Rhoades said. “We may take a year off from racing altogether next year and regroup. We’ll see how things finish out with this deal.”

Among the upcoming races for Rhoades will be Aug. 14 at State Park Speedway in Wausau. For more information on the truck series, check their website at midwesttruckseries.com.

AREA NEWS AND NOTES

Slinger Nationals leftovers: Former Winston Cup champion and Cambridge native Matt Kenseth put a muscle move on Byron, Mich.’s Erik Jones, the defending NASCAR truck champion, to capture his seventh Slinger Nationals victory Tuesday at Slinger Speedway. Kenseth battled back through the field after tangling with Seymour’s Ty Majeski early in the race. Majeski fought his way back to the lead only to spin later in the race, finishing 15th. Menominee, Mich.’s Dalton Zehr finished 19th. Fourteen of the 24 cars that started the race were running at the finish.

ARCA Midwest Tour update: Majeski won the Wayne Carter Classic last Saturday at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Ill. Majeski leads the series point standings with Wisconsin International Raceway Thursday night regular Casey Johnson of Edgerton sitting third. The next ARCAMT event will be the Potawatomi Dixieland 250 on Aug. 2 at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna.

Seymour WDLMA: The late models from the Wisconsin Dirt Late Model Association will be racing Sunday night at Seymour Raceway Park. They’ll join the track’s three regular, weekly divisions with racing getting underway at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds at 6 p.m.

Oshkosh off: There will be no racing at Oshkosh Speedzone on Aug. 5. Weekly racing will return to the ⅜-mile clay oval at 7 p.m. Aug. 12.

Joe Verdegan is a freelance writer who covers area racing for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and author of "Life In The Past Lane" chronicling local racing history. Email him at jverdegan2@gmail.com.